It only takes 2 minutes to join the NHS Organ Donor Register #TimeToSign

01 Dec 2015 12:19:33

NHS Blood and Transplant reveals nearly 49,000 people in the UK have had to wait for a transplant in the last decade.

Almost 49,000 people in the UK have endured the wait for an organ transplant in the last 10 years and over 6,000, including 270 children, have died before receiving the transplant they desperately needed, new statistics reveal.

The figures released by NHS Blood and Transplant (20/11/15) coincide with the launch of a new organ donation campaign ‘The Wait’ to highlight the true scale of the donor organ shortage.

Of the almost 7,000* patients currently on the UK’s transplant waiting list, 30% have been waiting more than two years. More than 500 of them have been waiting longer than five years – that’s over 1,800 days each.

The campaign launched with the screening of a 14 hour film capturing a day in the life of patient Simon Howell, 41, his wife Anita, also 41, and their children Sarah, 8, and James, 3. Born with a serious kidney condition, renal dysplasia, Simon had his first kidney transplant in 2005 thanks to his mum offering to be a living donor. Unfortunately, in 2009, the kidney failed. Simon was added to the transplant waiting list for a new kidney and has been waiting longer than six years already.

Simon allowed cameras to record the reality of just one of the many days he has spent waiting for a suitable organ to highlight just how difficult life is on the transplant waiting list.

Simon’s day is dominated by his illness. His day is punctuated with four life-saving sessions of dialysis, indescribable fatigue and constant uncertainty for the future as he and his family live in hope that a suitable donor organ will become available.

Talking about the impact of being on dialysis and waiting for a transplant, Simon said:

“I’ve been on dialysis for five years. For me, it’s the most difficult part of the wait. Dialysis keeps me alive whilst I wait for a transplant; but that’s all it does. I’m in limbo.

“My family and I are on a roller coaster and like a roller coaster, I can’t see the twists and turns or how it will end. But a transplant would completely transform my health and all our lives.

“Waiting for a transplant is not like waiting for anything else. You don’t necessarily get nearer to the top of the list the longer you’ve been on it. It depends on many factors including who is in greatest need and who is the best match for an organ. It’s an endless wait with no ETA.”

Across the UK on 1st October 2015 there were 6,856 people on the waiting list for a transplant, including:

• 5,400 people on the waiting list for a kidney and 481 of them had already waited longer than five years. An adult waits* 1,022 days and a child 316 days on average for a kidney transplant.

• 267 people on a waiting list for a heart transplant and 46 of them had already been waiting 3 years. An adult waits 1,033* days and a child 357 for a non-urgent heart transplant.

• 349 people on the waiting list for a lung transplant. The average wait for an adult is 233 days*. Of the patients who waited for a lung transplant in the last 10 years, more than a quarter died while waiting.

• 587 people on the waiting list for a liver transplant, 129 of whom had been waiting longer than a year. An adult waits on average 137 days* and a child 74 days.

If you haven’t told those closest to you that you want to be an organ donor, then please do it today. Tell them you want to be an organ donor and record your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

• Show your support for organ donation on social media by posting about signing up to the ODR and using the hashtag #TimeToSign • Twitter @NHSOrganDonor #TimeToSign • Facebook: facebook.com/nhsorgandonor • YouTube: youtube.com/user/nhsorgandonation • Watch the film (and share it) at organdonation.nhs.uk

SYB Integrated Care System @SYBhealthcare Partnership working is at the heart of these processes, by working together we can improve the health and care experience for all who use it. @NHSEnglandNorth

Tue Dec 18 10:55:01

NHS Rotherham CCG @NHSRotherhamCCG Advent Day 18 - Loneliness - For many of us, the festive season is a time for celebrating with friends and family. But, for many others it can be a lonely, isolating and sad time. Remember this Christmas that popping round for a cup of tea could really help an isolated person.